Hit and run
by SlytherinElektra
Summary: Arthur has an accident while running away from some thugs. Angst ensues. Birthday fic for Atlantisgirl12 even if it is a week late! Read and review!


Damn. He should've known better than that. Trusting those newbies... big mistake. He had wanted to give them a chance, because when he was starting in the business he had been given plenty and that had made him the excellent point man he was now. But those kids had made a mess of a job and now all DatCade corporation's private army was after them, and they were in the epicentre of the DatCade zone.

London was a good enough city to hide, but sooner or later they'll find him. And they had all exits (roads, airports...) covered, so trying to get out would be suicide. Why had he accepted that job in the first place? The enterprise was huge, too big, too dangerous. And those kids...Arthur guessed he had get used to almost perfect jobs after working with one of the best extractors for years, and had forgotten its risks.

- One coffee, thank you.-

Now there he was, trying to go unnoticed on the fifth pub of the evening. Everything was slowly falling apart. The jobs had lessened considerably since Cobb left. None of his former extracting buddies seemed to need him anymore, and his problem with the justice of several countries was bothering him more than ever. Great Britain had been a hideplace for him, but he'd screwed up that too. He had failed. He was no good anymore. He was lost. Arthur was depressed, and somehow tired of his life.

He was deep in thought when he saw a well suited man eyeing him from the door. Fantastic, he thought, that is just fantastic. One of DatCade's men. He had to get out of there, before any civilian got caught in the middle. But he needed a distraction... And he got one.

- Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

The national team scored on whatever sport was on TV, and everyone on the pub got crazy. Scarves and trumpets and national colours... Arthur was so grateful to that team he could kiss each of the members on the forehead. When the people were jumping and screaming and blocking the man's view, Arthur ran to the pub's toilet, and from there he went to the street.

He called a taxi, and, unable to think of a better solution, he asked the man to take him to the international airport of Heathrow. But those thugs were onto him, and they started shooting the taxi. The taxi driver looked at him with a terrified expression:

- You get out this instant!- yelled the driver.

- But...

- Out of my taxi!

So Arthur got out and ran through the deserted road, with those men on him. He ran, and ran, and ran...until he finally lost them. He was exhausted, but it didn't matter, He had made it. He continued to run while he smiled, relieved.

And then he hit something, hard, and fell to the cold road. He felt a sharp pain on his head, and spreading through his leg and chest. Just went something went better, everything else got worse.

_This is the end, _ Arthur thought.

SESESESESESESESESESESESESE

- Oh my god, Martin, oh my god!-

Martin and Margaret Doyle had only a few streets from the theatre to their place, but Martin always insisted that they took the car to go there. Margaret hated it. Yes, they were not young, and, yes, her hip bothered her when she took long walks but they could walk two hundred metres! She was only 53, for crying out loud. They were running too fast for Margaret's taste when suddenly they hit a young man on a suit, who fell limp to the road.

Margaret inmediately went out of the car to see the damage they had done. She should have never let Martin drive without his glasses! But she let him have it his way and now this poor kid was paying for it. She knelt down before him and gently put his head on her lap.

- Can you hear me, darling?-

- How's the boy?- Martin asked, getting off the car after killing the engine.

- He doesn't look good... take my phone from my purse and call an ambulance, right now!

Margaret felt the boy stir.

- No hospital...allergies...bad...reaction die...

Arthur used all the strength he had to tell the female voice that. It was the story he always used when hospitals were too risky. He had allergies to basic chemichal compounds of medications and hospitals would mean death. It had helped him more than once.

- Oh, then, what can we do?- asked Martin.

- Well obviously not leave him in the ground bleeding to death!- said Margaret, taking charge, as always.- Help me lift him up so we carry him home.

- You think?-

Putting their forces together the Doyles were able to lift up the boy, and carry him to the door. They'd been lucky they hit such a skinny young man. The boy's eyes opened and closed, and Margaret wasn't sure if he knew who they were or what had happenned. Carefully, they placed the injured man on the couch and started to panic.

Arthur softly moaned from the couch. He wasn't sure of where he was, everything was blurry. He was running away from DatCade... and then there was the voice of a woman, and a man, but he couldn't make out who they were, or where he was. He passed out and came back continously, being always brought back by the intense pain that worsened with each passing second.

It wasn't the first time he'd been hit by a car, but it was the first time someone stayed to look after him. When he was fifteen a speeding car hit him, while he crossed the street. The car driver didn't even stop to see if he was ok, and drove off like bat out of hell. It was late, and it was a deserted part of the town, so nobody had seen or heard what had happened. Young Arthur just lay there, not understanding what had happenned. Knowing that crying but be no good, he composed himself and slowly walked to the nearest hospital. Only when the doctors had taken care of him he allowed hinself to break down and cry. The following years nightmares about big cars that chased him and mean-spirited drivers had haunted him.

- Shouldn't we call a specialist or something?- Martin asked, fearing for the boy.

- The day of the final match? In the time it would take us to find someone who's working, the kid would have time to die a few times. I can clean his wounds myself but...we need someone fast, and trustworthy.- said Mrs. Doyle, her too getting more worried by the second.

- The Kincaid girl who lives across the street! Wasn't she a nurse? And her roomate is vegan or something like that, isn't he? Maybe between the two they could do some sort of natural solution with herbs or something.

- Yes, yes...let's pray that they're home!

Arthur wished he could just pass out. His chest hurt like hell ( he probably broke a rib or two) and now his head hurt too. He shifted unconfortably on the couch stained with his blood. Images of the time when he had been hit years ago flashed in his mind. It was dark, he hurt all over and there was nobody there. Nobody to comfort him, nobody to help him up. It was dark. And that driver could be back any second. It was dark.

- Can you hear me, handsome? Please, if you hear me try to nod.- said a voice. Arthur focused in the face. It was a dark haired girl, more or less his age. Behind her was a man all dressed in kakhi. Arthur nodded weakly-

-My name is Karyn, and I'm going to patch you up, okay, handsome?- she gave him an odd look- Do I know you? Nah, you can't be. It would be a hell of a coincidence!

- One of your dream people?-asked the guy.

- Could be... You remember...?- the voice seemed to fade.

Arthur only processed half of what was going on there. He had forgotten about the job, the men after him... and lived now in a strange limbo of voices, dim lights and memories. He had spent a whole week on the hospital the first time he was hit, and it hadn't been a nice time. He'd spent most of the time alone next to a very whiny old man. His family didn't have the time to be there, they visited every once in a while. His friends just sent a card. The driver was never caught.

And there he was again, about to cross the street. It was dark, and there was no one. He knew what was going to happen, but he couldn't control himself. The car appeared, a grey black blur, and hit him, left him there, on the cold ground. Injured and confused. And it happenned over and over and over again. The car, the speed, the paim. One, two, three, ten times.

Until something strange happenned. When he was about to cross the street someone held his hand. At first he didn't know what it was, but then he understood and looked. And there she was. Ariadne, smiling at him.

-What...?- Arthur started, but he was interrupted.

- I've seen what's been happening here. But it won't happen again. I won't let that car get near you.-she said, with a strong voice.- You are having a nightmare, Arthur. You were hit by a car and are now recovering from your injuries. But you are not alone. The nurse who took care of you had been Eames' apprentice and the co-worker, and she recognized you. She called Eames and he called us, and we're waiting for you to wake up.

He looked at her, and somehow knew that she was sincere. And that he was not alone anymore.

- You're suffering in here, and I hate to see it. Don't do this to yourself. So please, Arthur, wake up. You can end this. Wake up. Wake up.

The first thing he heard was a soft murmur of voices. He started regaining his senses, and tried to move. Bad idea. His whole body screamed when he tried to move. He opened his eyes slowly and started focusing.

- Feeling better, handsome?

They were all there: Ariadne, Eames, Cobb with his kids, the Doyles and the nurse girl. They were all looking at him.

- Glad you're back.- said Eames.

- Everything will be all right, I promise you.- said Ariadne, who was, just like in his dream, holding his hand.- I'll make sure of it.

Arthur checked something in his pocket.

Tears started running down his cheeks.

It was real. He wasn't dreaming.

A/N: So...what did you think about it? Is it any good? When I saw the prompt, I just couldn't help myself, I'm a sucker for Arthur angst. And Atlantisgirl12 review my other Inception story, so this is my way of saying thank you. Please let me know what you think! I could make a second part if you want with Arthur's full story, and the ending of the job-gone-wrong problem...But you tell if you want to!

You know you want to review!


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